Nutrition With A Twist

Michelle Halsne had had enough. During a training run for the Leadville Trail 100 in 2012, she took a sip of sports drink, a hit of gel and tried to down a salt tablet.

“My body said nope,” Michelle remembered. “I cannot throw up orange Gatorade one more time in my life. There’s gotta be another way to get your electrolytes and your calories without fighting them down.”

That was the moment. After noodling on it for a bit, Michelle, an ultrarunner who has tackled a 200-miler, knew she had to come up with a new fuel that would be easy to consume and wouldn’t mess with her gut; she didn’t want a gel or a bar. She partnered with a running friend and after tinkering in the kitchen (Michelle’s not a cook), they came up with a list of main ingredients that they wanted to include: potato starch, coconut oil and agave syrup.

“We have our simple carbohydrates, our complex carbohydrates, our fat. Forty-five percent of the calories come from fat,” Michelle says. “It’s something that our body recognizes right away. It’s all on a platform scientifically that is completely utilized before it hits your GI.” Her product, Fuel 100, was born; Michelle lovingly calls it “runner’s kibble” because the pieces are bite-sized and easily consumed, with a similar look profile of corn pop cereal.

For Catharine Arnston, her lightbulb moment came when her younger sister developed breast cancer seven years ago. After the oncologist suggested switching to an alkaline diet, Catharine decided to do some research and found that this type of diet is primarily plant-based. She became intrigued in the power of green nutrition and wanted to tell the world about it. So she went back to school and got a certificate in nutrition and health counseling, put together a curriculum and tried to spread her message. But it didn’t catch on.

“Everyone wants to be healthier,” Catharine says. “No one wants to put the work in. I wasn’t making a difference.”

She went back to what she’s really good at (researching), and learned all she could about algae and its benefits. She found out that there are two kinds of algae that have been used in Asian countries for ages because of the health benefits. Spirulina, which has Omega 3 in it, gives you energy and satisfies your hunger, says Catharine. Chlorella algae builds your immune system and removes toxins like lactic acid, mercury or fluoride and helps you recover faster.

And so came ENERGYbits, Inc., a pill-sized tablet created entirely of algae. At first, no one would believe Catharine when she would tell them about this super plant.

“I’ve been at this close to seven years so I had to find people who needed the product. That’s why we focus on athletes. When you’re an athlete, you need performance. You do anything you can to stay at the top of your game,” says Catharine. Now, ENERGYbits are being used by Olympic athletes, NFL and MLB players, among many other major sports athletes, she adds.

Both Michelle and Catharine point to the science backing their products, saying that they’re proud of the work that went into really understanding what the body needs and how their nutrition products can target those needs.

And while the growth might be slow at first, because educating the public about something brand new and slightly different takes time, they know that being an entrepreneur is a lot like running a race.

“Entrepreneurship and taking an idea from ‘oh I have an idea on a run’ to something that I can put in front of you and charge you to use…brutal,” says Michelle. “It’s like raising kids, it’s like running an ultra. It’s like 47 steps backwards for every 2 steps forward. It’s been amazingly challenging.”